GOP chair Dick Wadhams drops out of race for third term

Dick Wadhams, who 18 days ago announced his candidacy for a third term as chair of the Colorado Republican Party, has changed his mind and told the Republican State Central Committee that he is pulling out of the race.

Wadhams announcement comes after Saturday’s meetings of the Colorado County Central Committees, where several new chairs and vice-chairs were elected.

In an excerpt from the letter that Wadhams sent to the State Central Committee, he said:

“I am very grateful to a clear majority of the members of the Colorado Republican State Central Committee who offered their support and encouragement over the past several weeks.

I entered this race a few weeks ago looking forward to discussing what we accomplished in 2010 and to the opportunities we have in 2012 to elect a new Republican president; to increase our state House majority and win a state Senate majority; and to reelect our two new members of Congress.

However, I have tired of those who are obsessed with seeing conspiracies around every corner and who have terribly misguided notions of what the role of the state party is while saying “uniting conservatives” is all that is needed to win competitive races across the state.

I have no delusions this will recede after the state central committee meeting in March. Meanwhile, the ability of Colorado Republicans to win and retain the votes of hundreds of thousands of unaffiliated swing voters in 2012 will be severely undermined.”

Wadhams action leaves Ted Harvey, John Wagner and Bart Barton vying for the GOP chairmanship.

While he isn't supporting any of the remaining candidates, Wadhams says he's confident one or two more will be joining the race.